Adam Wainwright of the St. Louis Cardinals will start for the National League in Tuesday night’s MLB-All Star Game. He touts one of the best starting pitching resumes in all of baseball in 2014. As far as the competition for the starting gig was concerned, he needed every bit of his resume on the season to be selected ahead of Clayton Kershaw, even if his own manager (Mike Matheny) was the one making the call.
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When it comes to his keys for success, Wainwright will keep most of his trade secrets tight to the vest, not wanting to give anything away. But he did take the time to put together a video for Parents Magazine on the basics of how to become a pitcher. The video, entitled “How to Pitch Like a Big Leaguer,” covers some of the basic fundamentals, including where to stand on the rubber, arm position, keeping the elbow up, and how to grip the ball.
The hope here would be that kids who start to learn pitching from a young age do it right so that they can stay healthy and find success over the long term. Goodness knows Wainwright is a model for some of the best practices in baseball and has great tips to pass along.
As for Wainwright’s secrets, it’s hard to imagine he could teach anyone how to snap off curveballs as nasty as his, even if he tried.
But hey, kids who want to pitch have to start somewhere, so where better than tips from the guys starting the All-Star Game?